


The Book of Daniel (Whisper)

by jdjunkie



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M, Maternal Instinct, Season 3, commentfic, episode-related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-01
Updated: 2012-05-01
Packaged: 2017-11-04 16:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/395661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdjunkie/pseuds/jdjunkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>... it was as though someone had opened the journal of his innermost thoughts and turned to the chapter headed “The Book of Daniel” and started reading aloud.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Book of Daniel (Whisper)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Whisper (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/401558) by [Paian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paian/pseuds/Paian). 
  * Inspired by [Whisper (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/401558) by [Paian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paian/pseuds/Paian). 



“So, the energy being we know as Mother Nature took the boy?” Hammond glanced between the report on the briefing room desk and Daniel, who was pacing the floor like a caged animal.  
  
Jack was aware of Hammond’s eyes lingering on Daniel, quietly assessing, as a good CO should.  
  
“Yes,” Daniel said, matter-of-factly. He reached the entrance to the room, turned and started walking back, hands in pockets, radiating ... something ... that had everyone in the vicinity on edge. Carter and Teal’c had picked up on Daniel’s distress immediately and were looking to Jack ease the tension.  
  
In a very private, sealed-up part of his brain, Jack could think of a dozen ways to ease Daniel’s tension, but he was grimly aware that he shouldn’t be having feelings of that kind about his friend. His male friend. His teammate. And certainly not in the very heart of a military installation. Jack clenched his jaw until his teeth ached. At least the pain gave him something to focus on besides Daniel’s obvious agony, fierce blue eyes and slightly flushed, beautiful cheekbones.  
  
“Do you have any idea where the being has taken him, Dr. Jackson?”  
  
“All I know is it’s somewhere safe.”  
  
Hammond tapped the folder, the sound heightened in the increasingly tense atmosphere. “The child carries information vital to our defense against the Goa’uld, does it not?”  
  
“Yes. It does. _He_ does.” As he passed Jack’s seat again, Daniel’s face in profile was a picture of unhappiness – distracted and pinched, the tell-tale signs that he was barely holding it together.  
  
“Letting him go was the right thing to do, Sir,” Jack said, eyes following Daniel’s relentless path across the concrete. “In fact, it was the only thing to do. The alien being had all the power and wasn’t afraid to use it. And while we can’t get what we want from the child while he’s with this Oma ... person ... neither can the Goa’uld. His secrets are safe.”  
  
Hammond glanced up at Daniel again, then across to Jack, conveying a silent, _“Deal with him, Colonel.”_  
  
“O’Neill is correct, General Hammond. The Harsesis could not be in safer hands.” Jack had the feeling Teal’c was speaking as much to comfort Daniel as to back up his commanding officer’s actions.  
  
Carter nodded her agreement.  
  
“Very well. I think we’ve taken this as far as we can. Dismissed.”  
  
Hammond rose from his seat at the head of the table and headed for his office, leaving Jack with two concerned team members and another who didn’t seem to know which day of the week it was.  
  
Carter and Teal’c looked to Jack for dismissal, adding their own unspoken _“Look after him,"_ message. He nodded to them and they both gave Daniel one last, silently supportive look before leaving the room.  
  
Daniel suddenly seemed aware that everyone had gone and returned to his seat next to Jack’s at the table to gather up his notes. Jack winced. He had to say something. Daniel would hole up in his lab and bury himself in work and the time for talking would be gone.  
  
Jack leaned up towards Daniel to say he didn’t know what, just as Daniel leaned across to pick up a stray sheet of paper. Faces inches apart, they both stopped dead in their tracks. Jack’s eyes locked with Daniel’s and it was as though someone had opened the journal of his innermost thoughts and turned to the chapter headed “The Book of Daniel” and started reading aloud. He was sure it was all writ large there; every damn thing he’d ever felt, ever wanted to say, all the ways he’d wanted to touch and be touched.  
  
Everything.  
  
And now Daniel would know.  
  
Between one breath and the next, Jack went from buttoned-up military man to vulnerable guy wearing his heart on his sleeve.  
  
 _Oh, fuck._  
  
“It’s okay, Daniel,” he whispered. “Everything’s okay.” He had no idea where he found the wherewithal to say anything. He was numb, aching, stunned by the intensity of the moment.  
  
Daniel blinked, his brow creasing in a slight frown. He was a quick study in most subjects. Jack still didn’t know how easily he read the subject of Jack O’Neill, especially a Jack O’Neill who couldn’t even read himself when it came to this conundrum of a man.  
  
“It’s not,” Daniel said softly in return. “Not yet.”  
  
Daniel smiled then, but it was a heartbreaking facsimile of a smile. Things were a long way from okay. He pulled away and picked up the last of his papers.  
  
The there-and-gone moment had passed.  
  
Jack swallowed hard, so hard there was an audible click from his dry throat. What the hell had just happened?  
  
Daniel turned as he reached the doorway and looked at Jack, his expression determined. “But it will be,” he said, confidently. And then he was gone.  
  
Jack mentally started writing a new chapter.

 

ends


End file.
